The story of the Virgins

Sorry, mate, if you have come here with thoughts of reading a erotic article but this article is as erotic as the one you have in mind :-).

Read this article by the Telegraph's Scyld Berry on the impending English tour of Bangladesh. Two points standout, though we can't agree more with Berry on the other points,

"Under the presidency of India's Jagmohan Dalmiya, the ICC next sent an inspection team to Bangladesh in January 2000. They recommended that Bangladesh be granted Test status from January 1, 2001, but the evidence on which they based their decision was flimsy. The main Bangladesh players were on strike when they arrived, and the only match the inspection team saw was a three-day game against MCC: not an international team but MCC, whose star bowler was Gary Yates, Lancashire's irregular off-spinner."

What more can you expect from ICC, which runs itself as a corporate body with a CEO and host of other executives but believes in maximizing the returns only for its investors, ie., telivision companies and sponsors, leaving the poor consumer, who else but idiots like us, in the cold. More so, this happened during the term of Apna Jaggu Dada the man widely credited with unleashing the commericial potential of cricket. I fear he's unleashed a greater demon that the game could have done without.

The other point made by the author, which I wish to contest, comes as the conclusion:

"One Test batsman, two Test bowlers. All you can say is good luck, mate, and it's not your fault, because the administrators dumped you in this. Bangladesh's premature promotion was a travesty, even a conspiracy."

Isn't this true for other teams?
India: Rahul Dravid (B), Anil Kumble & L Balaji(BO)
Pakis: Inzamam(B), Danish Kaneria & Naved-ul-Hasan( BO)
(I haven't include Naved just for his India tour exploits but he's been consistent throughout the season for pakistan)
SA : Kallis (B), Pollock & Ntini (BO)
SL : Attapattu (B), Murali & Vaas (BO)
Eng : Strauss (B), Flintoff & Giles (BO)
(Yup! Giles. If you read through the team's performance over the last 1 year he has served as the silent killer)
NZ : Hamish Marshall (B), Daniel Vettori (BO)
(Poor Vettori. He doesn't even have the luxury that Bangladesh can boast of at this moment.)
WI : Lara (BO)
(Now the kiwis looks much better than the windies)
Zim : Let them first put a team together.

So, if you see all these teams are almost on the same level as bangladesh (probably on second thoughts England is now emerging as a much more allround team like Australia). So, why blame the virgins.